Bows for Babies- Support A Wonderful Cause

Amanda and I connected for the first time via my Veronika's Blushing page on Facebook.  She sent me a note telling me she thought she had seen me at the hospital (I was pregnant at the time and seeing my OB) and that she had a baby in the NICU there.

I work pretty extensively with our neonatology service and have a special place in my heart for these families after having worked with so many of them on news stories over the last few years. I meet these families during a very vulnerable and stressful time in their lives and it is a privilege every time I get to meet their precious miracles and learn about their journeys.

I want to share with you a very special project Amanda is working on to support new moms and dads who have babies in the NICU at Texas Children's Hospital and also to bring a moment of happiness to families who have to spend a holiday in the hospital. 

Tell us briefly about your pregnancy and experience having Cami in the NICU

After a scary pregnancy, filled with more downs than ups, Cami was born at the gestational age of 25 weeks and 5 days, weighing just over 2 pounds. We were incredibly lucky to know ahead of time that she would be born early so that we were prepared to get to the hospital at a moments notice. 

Though our NICU stay was long, and filled with highs and lows, we managed to maintain a positive attitude, knowing how lucky we were to still have Cami with us. In addition to the great relationships I had with Cami�s nurses and doctors, one thing that always made me feel special was when volunteers brought us an unexpected gift, whether it was a hand knit baby blanket or a cup of hot tea.

After 86 days in the NICU, Cami came home. Not a day goes by that I don�t consciously think of how lucky I am to have my perfect angel on Earth.

When did you first come up with the idea to give/donate bows and bow ties to babies in the NICU at Texas Children's?

We were so fortunate to not have to spend a Christmas in the NICU.  As we were decorating for the holidays and planning out all of the traditions we were excited to start for Cami, it dawned on me that even though WE weren�t in the NICU for Christmas, other families were.  I knew I wanted to do something to bring joy to these families, but wasn�t sure what that was.

I considered making ornaments that the families could put on their Christmas tree at home, but decided I wanted to give the babies and families something special that they could enjoy inside the hospital. Then it hit me - bows! When Cami was in the NICU, the nurses would help me tape regular bows onto her CPAP hat because I couldn�t find any preemie sized bows.  Even though this was something only the families of baby girls could enjoy, it was something that was very special to me during our stay that I wanted to share with others.  I made about 60 tiny headbands and put them in a little baggie with a before and after picture of Cami wearing the huge bow I had bought her at the hospital gift shop during our NICU stay. I made a promise to myself that I would think of something to do for the boys by Christmas 2014.

What inspired you to start your business � Squishy Cheeks BOWtique?

After making bows for the little preemie girls, I decided I wanted to start making and selling bows to others via a Facebook page.  I named the business after my once tiny, now big squishy baby girl � Squishy Cheeks BOWtique.  After the first couple of weeks of operation, moms of boys started telling me that I need to offer something for boys.  I joked around with them about the idea of making bows for boys until it hit me � bow ties!

Since I learned how to make the bow ties in March, I decided Easter would be the perfect holiday to do a bow and bowtie donation to the hospital.  

Tell us about what you have planned for this Easter for the babies in the NICU

This past Christmas, I was so late with my idea of making and donating bows that I had to drop the bows off at the front desk of the NICU.  For Easter, I am very excited that I might have the opportunity to actually take the bows to the families and see them on some of the babies.   

I will be holding a bow sale on my Facebook page starting this week, with profits going towards the Easter bows and bow ties.  If the sale is a success, I hope to have money left over to donate to a great organization offered to moms in the Texas Children�s Pavilion for Women NICU called First Memories Texas.  They go into the NICU rooms each week and take photos of the babies.  Then, they print the pictures and provide scrap booking supplies for moms and dads to make a memory card for that week.  I put all of the cards I made during our NICU stay into a photo album and it is something I treasure greatly.

If you would like to support a wonderful cause and get a cute little hair bow or bow tie for your little one (or the baby of a friend or family member!) please visit Amanda's Facebook boutique page here. Thanks for your support and for making a difference for these babies and families!

I also want to mention that through my job I have worked with First Memories Texas and they are a wonderful volunteer group providing a very crucial service to our NICU families. I have done a few news stories with them on the news and I can't tell you just how much happiness they bring to families who want to document their child's journey. You can learn more about First Memories here.

Harper Reese- 10 Months Old!

We're in double digits, folks! Just two more months until this baby is one year old and each and every month I still marvel at the time that has gone by. Does the world just run in "fast-forward" mode when you become a parent? It sure feels like it.

Harper has become the sweetest, funniest, silliest, most loving baby girl. Her personality really shows more and more every single day and I have these moments where I can't believe I'm the lucky woman that gets to be her mama.  

Harper is also showing more independence this month and she's more vocal. It's fun to anticipate what new or cute thing she might do each day.

Here are Harper's 9 month updates:

Weight:  I won't know official measurements until her 12 month appointment but she's about 22 lbs now.

Health: Harper has been pretty good this month! She has a perma-runny nose, but that's par for the course at this point. Spring and summer should clear it up (I hope!) One of the neonatologists I work with mentioned that most babies have 10 colds in their first year of life, so that was reassuring. We continue to use a cool mist humidifier in her room to help with her nose.

Sleep: The recent time change means that Harper goes to sleep a little later and this working mama couldn't be any happier about that! We put her down between 7-7:15 ish and she typically sleeps until 6:30 a.m. She also naps twice a day, usually around 10 and 2 which is the schedule the daycare has the babies on. It has been a blessing to have her sleeping through the night consistently. We still have a day here and there where she will wake up early or wake up crying at 2 a.m. but they are few and far between and she takes just minutes to settle back down.

Social: I love watching Harper interact with the other babies in her daycare class. Sometimes, they steal toys from each other and one ends up in tears, ha! I noticed that Harper has been a little better with strangers lately. She returns smiles, waves sometimes and is overall passing through her stranger danger phase. She does get shy once in awhile which is really cute.

Diet: I am still exclusively pumping for Harper (read more about my pumping story here). I'm currently working on having Harper get either five 5 oz bottles or four 6 oz bottles bringing her to 24-25 oz total per day. I noticed that as she's eating more solids, she seems to have dropped a feed all on her own but we continued to provide three 6 oz bottles for her at daycare and she would sometimes not take one. So I think balancing it out to where she's getting about 25 oz total is the direction we're headed in. Of course it's still the bulk of her nutrition, but she's so great with solids that she's getting a nice balanced diet.

 

Right now I'm working on weaning down from pumping. I started today with going from four pumping sessions a day to three. I hope to produce about 25 oz per day for the next three weeks and then I'll try to wean down to two and then one pumping session per day until I'm done at the beginning of May. Then, I plan to use my freezer stash to feed her through 12 months. 

Solids are going fantastically and this baby loves all food!  She is especially into cheese and yogurt right now and she also loves fruits and veggies. We got lucky with what a great eater she is, but I know that can all change as we move into toddlerhood (and as an aside, I'm totally not ready to use the t-word yet!)  I continue to make all of her food except for bread, yogurt and cheese and I recently had her try a waffle as well. I love that soon she will be eating exactly what we eat but in smaller bites and portions.  It will also force us to eat as clean as she does right now which will be great for our health too.

She is so awesome at feeding herself! She's got a great pincher grasp and learned to chew her food better than before. Still just two teeth but eating great!

Likes: Pulling up, cruising along furniture, crawling super quick, crawling under the dining table, looking out of windows, music, songs from the movie "Frozen," eating, kisses on her chin (those bring out major giggles), being tossed into the air, being chased, crawling competitions (sometimes I let her win), Mr. Panda, Lulu (but he doesn't want anything to do with her), banging on the table, throwing things, books (Cat in the Hat is a current fave)...

Postpartum: I think that being at the end of the pumping road is giving me something to look forward to and though I'm still bittersweet about it, I know that overall it will be incredible to have some time back in my days and nights and that I won't have to pause my day to pump or plan my days around it anymore. It will be so nice to be out and about on weekends and not have to come home or bring the pump with us if we want to stay somewhere a longer time.

I'm also eager to get back into a fitness routine and I know for me it will have to be classes. Ideally, I'd like to see my personal trainer for 8 weeks about twice a week just to get back into the swing of things and then I'd like to do Bar Method a couple of times a week to maintain muscle tone. 

We are traveling to Canada this summer (I'm the maid of honor in my friend's wedding) and will be visiting lots of family and friends who are all meeting Harper for the first time (except for my mom, of course) and I'm just so excited about that! It will be nice to be back home and have a little break. I'm also itching to plan a vacation for the fall or winter but haven't thought too much about it yet. I would love to just go to a resort and lay on the beach and swim in the ocean�.ahhhh!

Clothes: Harper is wearing 12-18 and 18-24 month Baby Gap

Baby Gear Love: We love our Prince Lionhart bathtub and mostly toys and books this month. I'll share some in an upcoming post!

Crying: Harper is still having some dramatic tears when she wants something or can't do something but she doesn't cry a lot. One time she cries every.single.day is after her bath when we put her diaper and PJ's on. I don't know if it's because she knows her bottle is coming or what, but she cries on cue every single night (and she's all smiles/happy during bath time). Hopefully she will grow out of it. She hates having her diaper changed and tolerates having clothes put on so maybe that's it.

Milestones: Harper is crawling much more quickly, pulling up on everything, balancing well and sometimes even briefly standing with no support. She can clap and wave and started to point a lot recently. She's also been more "talkative." I notice she continues to have better and better movement control when it comes to getting from one place to the next. She loves to cruise on furniture�I also can't resist her smile lately�not a milestone, but goodness gracious it's cute!

You can really see how much her hair has grown here! The roots are very golden/strawberry and the ends are more of a true red. I love it!

Thanks for reading!

Harper's Dress-Baby Gap (in stores)

Harper's Headband-CharlieCocos

Our Saturday...

This morning by some amazing miracle, Harper woke up at 6:30, had her bottle, played around in our bed for a bit and then went back to sleep until 9:30! It was glorious and though I had to wake up to pump, I did get about an hour and a half of extra sleep after that. What a great way to start the day!

After our morning sleep-in, we went to Harper's last swim class for the season (we will resume again in the fall).  As always, Harper had a good time and I was able to capture the adorable picture below. 

Harper's bathing suit- here

After swim class we decided to head to Local for some lunch (I recommend the crunchy chicken sandwich with the pestole soup) and then we got the stroller out of the car to walk off our lunch, grab some Starbucks and check out some strollers.  

(a very poor attempt at a lunch selfie with Harper trying to eat the belt of her chaircover)

We are on the hunt for an umbrella stroller for travel. If you have any recommendations, please let me know!  We liked one that we checked out at Right Start called the Mountain Buggy Nano because it folds up super small and comes with a travel case. It's more than I wanted to spend on this kind of stroller, but I figure we will get a lot of use out of it if we have a second baby as it's one of the only umbrella strollers on the market that can also hold an infant car seat in it---it also reclines and has an extended leg area, a feature a lot of less expensive umbrella strollers are missing. We love our UppaBaby Vista but it's a little big when running quick errands. It's more of a stroller for things like long walks, trips to the park, trips to the zoo, etc�

I also stopped in at Baby Gap to return the (adorable) yellow gingham dress that didn't fit Harper and they were having a 40% off promotion in store (use the code "HAPPY" online) so I picked up some summer items for her. It's safe to say I'm addicted to Baby Gap.

Harper has also grown out of all of her 6-12 month PJ's so I picked up some larger ones since we dress her in new PJ's every night. And the windowpane print dress? I just can't even. I want one in my size (seriously, how beautiful would it be in a pencil or full skirt silhouette?)

gingham romper (not available online, but love this) |  stripe romper  |  plaid flutter dress

sunglasses |  sandals | chambray sunhat 

bunny footed sleeper  |  polka dot sheep PJ's  | lace trim leggings

If you follow me on IG, you've probably already seen the precious Houston gold foil print from All Things Pretty on Etsy. I absolutely love it and I can't wait to hang it somewhere in our home--- I'm thinking the entryway! 

I also bought a MadeByGirl iphone case for my new iPhone 5S. I really love it and the print wraps around the sides too. It's very "spring."

Wishing you a HAPPY weekend!

FTC: all items were purchased with my own money except for the Houston print. All opinions are my own.